The Enigma of the Villa Chapter One: Monkey Three and Pig Intestine

Dusk gradually deepened; the sun had died, and the moon climbed into the treetops.
The street flowed like a river undisturbed by waves, winding through dense shadows cast by the trees. A cold wind swept past, rustling the leaves as if whispering secrets.
A massive head emerged cautiously from behind a thick trunk, revealing a portly man with a belly like a barrel, his face covered with a black cloth strip. He hunched awkwardly, eyes darting furtively across the street, then raised his right hand in an “OK” gesture and rasped, “Hou, there’s no one on this road. Safe!”
A hand slapped hard against the back of the fat man’s head. A wiry, slender figure sauntered out from behind him, face similarly masked by a black cloth—though this one concealed nearly all but a pair of bright, intent eyes. “If no one's around, why the hell are you sticking your butt out and crouching? Didn’t you know I was right behind you? Nearly knocked me over... And I’ve told you eight hundred times, don’t call me ‘Monkey.’ I’m not Sun Wukong. Call me Third Brother!”
“Oh, got it, Hou…” The fat man scratched his head. “How come Deer Hill Avenue is so deserted? Not a soul. All the other streets in A City are bustling. Maybe the news is fake? Why would someone so rich live in such a remote place…”
“Zhu Dachang, I’ll say it one last time—call me Third Brother!” Hou San lifted his chin, snorted coldly. “You don’t know a damn thing! This is the villa district. Rich folks like peace and quiet, don’t want to be bothered. It’s normal for the street to be empty—they all drive in and out. The ones packed together in the city center are the poor sods, riding buses and subways every day, walking home. No wonder the streets are crowded there.”
“Oh, I get it—like the difference between a dormitory and a private room in a hotel,” Zhu Dachang giggled foolishly, glancing up at the sky. “We’re bound to make a good haul tonight. In a place this secluded, no one will know if anything happens. Even the timing is on our side…” He cleared his throat, put his hands on his hips, and solemnly recited, “As the saying goes, ‘On a dark night with high winds, it’s time for murder and arson!’”
Hou San jumped up and smacked Zhu Dachang’s head again. “Idiot! Don’t spout nonsense when you don’t understand. I keep telling you to read more, but you never listen. We’re not risking our heads in that kind of business. Why quote crap about murder and arson? We’re just after some loot. In the old days, it was robbing the rich to help the poor. We take the stuff and leave, don’t harm anyone’s life. There’s a code among thieves.”
Zhu Dachang grinned sheepishly, rubbing his hands. “Third Brother, does that mean after tonight’s job we can go back to the village? That stone they talked about on the news is worth a lot…”
“Uneducated fool—that’s called a diamond, not just some stone,” Hou San’s eyes gleamed. “It’s really worth a fortune. We could work construction for ten years and not earn that much… Just talking about it pisses me off. If that bastard foreman hadn’t run off with the money, we’d be home for New Year by now… Never mind. Tonight, we’ll take his boss’s diamond and settle the score, clean break.”
“These rich folks are really something,” Zhu Dachang pouted. “Spend so much on a useless stone but won’t pay us our wages. No honor among thieves! Once we cash in the stone, we’ll head home. The countryside is better. A City is beautiful, but some people are rotten to the core…”
“What’s the point of going back?” Hou San walked along the villa district’s wall, speaking in a low voice. “Whatever job you do, you have to love it. Since we’re in this line, we have to make a name for ourselves before heading home. Finish this job, get some money, upgrade our gear, and keep moving. Strike everywhere, make the rich tremble at our name. Then I’ll be the Thief Saint, and you’ll be the Thief God. Take a chance—turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!”
Zhu Dachang glanced back at their previous hiding spot. “Third Brother, don’t we already have a motorcycle?”
“Blockhead, it’s a metaphor. Can’t you understand? Who rides a motorcycle when they’re rich? I’ll get you a BMW, I’ll get myself a Mercedes. That’s how you return home with pride.”
“Can you plow fields with a BMW? How many acres can it plow in a day?”
“What would you plow fields for?” Hou San looked back at Zhu Dachang, puzzled. “That’s a luxury car. I’ve never heard of anyone using a BMW to plow.”
“If you can’t plow, what’s the use? Might as well get a tractor…” Zhu Dachang poked his two index fingers together, shyly mumbling, “Third Brother, can I skip the BMW and just get a tractor?”
“What do you want a tractor for?”
“When I left the village, I promised Cuihua I’d earn enough to buy a tractor, so I could help plow her few acres come spring, so she won’t have to borrow Old Wang’s ox again.”
“Doesn’t Li Ergou have a tractor? She can ask him for help. A tractor gets the job done in no time, no need to use an ox.”
“No way—Li Ergou looks at her too strangely, always staring. I don’t want her getting involved with Li Ergou…”
“You treat that widow like a treasure,” Hou San spat on the ground. “Once we have money, I’ll find you a pretty young city girl. Isn’t that better than Cuihua the widow?”
“No way,” Zhu Dachang pouted. “Cuihua is waiting for me. When I earn enough, I’ll build a few tile-roofed houses in the village, buy a tractor, marry her, just like I promised…”
“Hopeless,” Hou San curled his lip. “Whatever, buy as many tractors as you like once we get the money… Let’s finish the job first, or else it’s all empty talk.”
Finding a convenient spot for climbing, Hou San scaled the wall like an agile monkey and beckoned Zhu Dachang, then jumped into the villa district. Two minutes later, Zhu Dachang finally managed to clamber over, panting and sweating.
Hou San glanced at the layers of fat around Zhu Dachang’s belly and sighed, “With that body, you’ll never be the Thief God…”
“I only ate half a flatbread today,” Zhu Dachang protested miserably. “This fat just grows on me, nothing I can do…”
“All right, quit dawdling,” Hou San urged. “Find out which house is his, grab the loot, and get out. The longer we stay, the more trouble.”
Zhu Dachang wiped sweat from his brow, nodded heavily, and hunched behind Hou San, prowling through the villa district.
Half an hour later, Zhu Dachang pointed excitedly at the number on the wall beside a villa’s gate. “Third Brother, found it! Number six!”
Hou San glanced at the number, exhaled. “This villa district is huge—damn it, when I’ve got money, I’ll get one myself…” He flexed his limbs. “Let’s go, time for our grand performance!”
Taking a deep breath, Hou San was first over the outer wall, moving quietly to the door, opening it just enough for Zhu Dachang to squeeze in sideways, then closed it softly.
Bent low, they skirted the villa’s garden and approached the main hall. Seeing the brightly lit villa, Hou San gaped, turning to Zhu Dachang in shock. “Didn’t you say no one would be home tonight? What’s going on?”

Zhu Dachang swallowed. “Yesterday, when I followed him, I heard him say he’d be at a hotel hosting some kind of party tonight…”
“Doesn’t matter—we’re here now. A thief never leaves empty-handed; that’s the rule.” Hou San narrowed his eyes. “As long as we’re careful, we might not get caught… If it goes wrong, we’ll just grab and run. Even if they see us, if we’re quick, they can’t catch us.”
Zhu Dachang nodded rapidly. “Third Brother, I’ll do whatever you say!”
Hou San spat into his palm, pulled out a pocket knife, and pried open a window. “I’ll scout ahead, then call you in.”
Zhu Dachang gave an “OK” sign, crouched against the wall, hiding in the shadows.
Hou San slipped through the window into the hall, crouched, put away the knife, and scanned the living room—no one in sight. He was about to straighten up when footsteps sounded near the stairs, and he quickly ducked behind the curtain, holding his breath.
The footsteps slowly moved toward the living room, circled the sofa, then headed back upstairs.
Hou San peered out, saw the coast was clear, rolled across the floor to the back of the sofa, exhaled heavily.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated violently in his pocket, followed by its raucous ringtone.
“Good fortune comes to you, good fortune brings joy and love, good fortune comes, we prosper everywhere…”
Hou San frantically pulled out his phone, saw “Zhu Dachang” on the screen, answered, keeping an eye on the stairs, face grim with suppressed fury. “What do you want?”
Zhu Dachang’s voice came, purposely hushed. “Oh… Just wanted to remind you to turn off your ringtone…”
“I know, no need for reminders!”
“But you didn’t turn it off—I can hear it.”
“I’ll do it now…”
“Then hurry up, so there won’t be any more noise…”
“How am I supposed to turn it off if you don’t hang up?”
“Oh, oh, I’ll hang up now…”
With that, Zhu Dachang ended the call. Hou San opened the ringtone settings, about to hit “off,” when the phone vibrated again—Zhu Dachang calling.
Hou San answered, exasperated. “What now?”
Zhu Dachang stammered, “Third Brother, can I come in now? There are so many mosquitoes in the bushes, even in winter… Don’t know where they came from…”
Hou San peeked toward the stairs, listened for sounds above. “Fine! Get in right now, and… don’t call me again!”
As soon as he hung up, he switched the ringtone off, tucked the phone away, and started searching the living room.
Moments later, Zhu Dachang crawled in through the window, snaking toward the sofa, seeing Hou San rummaging through the TV cabinet. He was about to speak when footsteps sounded from the stairs; he immediately ducked back behind the sofa.
Hou San heard it too and hid behind the other side of the sofa.
A woman in a bathrobe, fair-skinned and delicate-featured, descended the stairs, rubbing her wet hair with a towel. She tilted her head, glanced at the living room, pouted, and called upstairs, “Was that you downstairs just now?”
Another woman, hair loose over her shoulders, heavily made-up, sashayed down, shrugged. “I did come down for a bit, but went right back up—busy tidying the study. What’s up?”
The bathrobe woman frowned. “I thought I heard something downstairs…”
“You must be mistaken,” the heavily made-up woman replied. “You’re just too nervous… Don’t worry, I’ll finish tidying soon. Everything will be just like before, as if nothing ever happened…”
“Nothing happened in the first place,” the bathrobe woman glared. “You have to remember that—if you want to fool others, you have to fool yourself first.”
“Got it,” the other woman placed her hands on the bathrobe woman’s shoulders, steering her upstairs. “Go dry your hair, or you’ll catch a cold…”
Hou San listened as their footsteps faded, exhaled, peeked out from behind the sofa, saw the coast was clear, and gestured for Zhu Dachang to search the two small rooms by the kitchen while he continued searching the living room.
Zhu Dachang gave a thumbs-up, crawled quickly toward the kitchen, straightened up in the hallway, tiptoed to a room door, opened it, and found it filled with lavish women’s clothing, colorful handbags on the shelves, and neatly arranged high heels on the floor.

Zhu Dachang opened a drawer and his eyes lit up—the drawer was overflowing with glittering jewelry. Swallowing hard, he returned to the hallway and signaled Hou San with excited whispers, “Third Brother, found the treasure!”
Hou San immediately put down what he was holding, hurried over, and whispered, “Where?”
Zhu Dachang led him into the dressing room, pointed at the open drawer, and whispered, “Look at all this… Only I haven’t seen the big stone from the news.”
Hou San stared at the jewelry, unable to tear his gaze away, his mouth dry. “This is more than enough. You can’t eat a fat pig in one bite. There are people home—we should grab these and bolt…”
“Third Brother, you pack up here,” Zhu Dachang said reluctantly. “I’ll check the other room—maybe the big stone is there. The news hyped it up so much, I want to see what makes it worth so much…”
Hou San waved him off, grabbed one of several identical black handbags from the shelf, started stuffing jewelry into it, and said impatiently, “Hurry up. Be careful. Once I’m done, we leave, diamond or not. Got it?”
Zhu Dachang nodded seriously, slipped back into the hallway, and edged along the wall to the other small room, slowly opened its door, and looked inside—disappointed.
The room was barely ten square meters, with a large washing machine, some mops against the wall, a cabinet to the left—nothing else.
He shook his head discontentedly, walked to the cabinet, opened it, and froze.
Something tumbled onto his feet—a woman, about forty, wearing an apron.
What shocked Zhu Dachang was the knife plunged into her chest, her clothes stained deep red.
He pressed his lips together, crouched, pulled the knife from her chest, examined it, and gasped, “It’s real…”
Hou San entered, holding the black handbag, saw the scene, eyes wide, smacked Zhu Dachang’s head, face pale. “Zhu Dachang, is your brain stuffed with pig intestines? I told you, we only take money, never lives. Did you ignore everything I said?”
“It wasn’t me…” Zhu Dachang held the bloody knife, innocent. “Third Brother, I didn’t do it. When I opened the cabinet, she just fell out—I thought it was a mannequin…”
“I figured you wouldn’t have the guts…” Hou San frowned. “Put it back quick. There’s too much going on in rich people’s homes. We’d better leave, don’t get involved…”
Zhu Dachang stared at the woman’s ghastly face, swallowed, trembling as he shoved the knife back into her chest. As the blade sank in, a trickle of dark red blood oozed out, making Hou San’s eyelid twitch in silent alarm.
They put the woman back in the cabinet and closed the door. Seeing a drop of blood on the floor from earlier, Zhu Dachang reached to wipe it, but Hou San yanked him up, and they hurried back to the living room, scrambling out the window.
Hou San closed the window, ready to leave, but Zhu Dachang’s huge hands held him down.
Zhu Dachang put a finger to his lips, pointed at the villa living room, and pulled Hou San into the shadows of the bushes.
Hou San followed his finger and saw the bathrobe woman coming down the stairs into the living room, settling onto the sofa, picking up the remote, and turning on the sound system. A gentle piano melody filled the villa.
Ten seconds later, the heavily made-up woman joined her, sitting close beside her.
What happened next stunned Zhu Dachang and Hou San so much their jaws could have swallowed a bowling ball.
The two women embraced, lips pressed together, passion rising.
Zhu Dachang pulled out his phone, aimed it at the pair, and snapped a photo.
Click.
Hou San’s breath stopped, voice trembling. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Didn’t you see online? When something happens, don’t panic—take a photo and post it to your feed.”
Hou San rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. “You want the whole world to know we’re here stealing, and post it to your feed? Your feed only has me and that widow. What’s the point? Move now—opportunity knocks but once.”
Zhu Dachang stuck out his tongue, put his phone away, and followed Hou San out, hunched over as they left the villa. As he closed the door, he glanced back and saw something even more shocking, almost dropping his jaw.
The heavily made-up woman slowly took off her long hair, wiped away her makeup, revealing a cold, masculine face…